The Lansing City Council picks a new council president tomorrow.
It’s a selection process that has proved contentious in the past.
Last year, it took a deadlocked Lansing City Council more than a dozen votes to break a four to four stalemate to select a city council president.
The deadlock summed up the even political split on the city council.
The stalemate was only broken when a deal was struck that gave Brian Jeffries the fifth vote he needed to win the job. The price? The agreement that Jeffries’ opponent Kathie Dunbar would get the president’s gavel in 2013. Dunbar has served three years as the council’s vice president.
But the question is, will the deal hold?
Critics complain that Dunbar missed a significant number of city council meetings in the past year.
Dunbar says she missed the meetings while dealing with personal issues.
Still, the absences may affect the deal that would put Dunbar in the city council president’s seat.
The Lansing City Council president not only runs council meetings, but also handles committee assignments.
